Nature is many things: majestic, brutal, and occasionally, incredibly clumsy. Just ask Ryan Muirhead, who in December 2010 randomly stumbled upon a scene in Kittson County, Minnesota, that looked less like a National Geographic cover and more like a failed gymnastics routine. Yikes.

There in front of him, stuck in the ground, was a massive bull elk. But he wasn’t grazing—he was completely inverted, with his antlers driven down into the swampy mud. Like stakes of a canopy or something.

A Freak Accident at -25 Degrees

You would think that at 25 degrees below zero, the Minnesota ground would be harder than a frozen steak. However, thanks to a blanket of insulating snow, the mud underneath stayed soft enough to engulf a world-class rack.

All Muirhead could figure was the big guy likely tried to clear a fence, caught a hoof, and accidentally performed a literal “head-over-heels” somersault into the muck. For a creature that weighs as much as a grand piano, gravity was not on its side that day.

The Great 2×4 Rescue

When Muirhead and his crew found the bull, it was still alive but super exhausted. Freeing a 462-inch elk isn’t a job that could be done by just pulling its tail or something. It took serious strength and a 10-foot 2×4 used as a lever to finally pop those antlers out of the suction of the mud.

The bull eventually made it upright and staggered into the timber. Typically, that is a moment of high fives…maybe hugs. But, Mother Nature was not in a good mood that day.

The End (and a World Record)

Sadly, the ordeal was too much for the massive bull. Muirhead found the bull bedded down two days later, where he stayed with the animal until it passed. A necropsy later confirmed the cause being pneumonia. Spending hours upside down in sub-zero mud while breathing in swamp mud, dirt, and debris is a recipe for a respiratory disaster, even for an animal this size.

But while the elk didn’t make it, its legacy certainly did. Once the DNR and Boone and Crockett got a look at the “Mud Bull,” the numbers were mind-blowing!

• Official Score: 462 2/8 inches. (WOW)
• The Ranking: It remains the #1 Minnesota elk and currently holds the #4 spot all-time for non-typical American elk.
• The Category: Because it wasn’t taken by a hunter, the bull is officially listed as a “Pick Up” trophy.

Summary

The Muirhead Bull is a reminder that even the kings of the forest have bad days—and also that in Minnesota, the mud is just as dangerous as the cold.

What a crazy story.

^{Source info: MPR News, Stephen Bodio, Minnesota’s New Country, Boone and Crockett}